Ashes
by WAR036
Summary: Years after Andross had been defeated; his forces have proclaimed him a God. Now, thier crusade threatens to overrun all of Lylat. However, the Star Fox Team has become the largest and most powerful mercenaries in Lylat ready to face the greatest threat.
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue: Ashes**

_**10 Years after Andross's Forces were defeated at Venom by the Star Fox Team **_

"_We had won the war"_

The smoke in the commander's headquarters made it impossible to see as the hound dog gripped the last of the files he had to burn. He could barely breathe as he laid the papers over the fire in garbage can.

"_We had won the war", _The Hound Dog repeated as he let his hand go of the papers and heard the crackle as more smoke filled the already consumed office.

_He started to choke on the smoke as he turned to his desk….. _

"Your not done yet…..old boy", General Pepper said as he prepared to burn the most important objects in his office.

He looked at his photos he had around his desk; there was a photo of his wife Martha and one of his child Roth. He carefully looked at the photo of his wife; she was wearing a blue dress as the lioness's eyes sparkled as she smiled in the camera.

He was never very religious, however at that moment he prayed that she had gotten out in time before the blockade cut the planet off. His eye's watered as his hands held the picture and then let it drop into the fire.

He knew if they had gotten hold of photograph she would have been hunted down and tortured by the zealots.

He just stared at the fire as the photograph turned to ashes, keeping his eyes on those dark blue sparkling eyes his wife had until the color turned to black and it was no more.

Still finding it difficult to breathe he turned over to his desk and grabbed the second photograph of his son. The Dog was wearing a dark military green flight suit with a crimson fox on his right pocket. The Star Fox insignia being the most noticeable part of the uniform as the lion gave a salute, beaming with pride.

The General for a brief moment just stared not at his son, but at that dark crimson symbol…..a symbol at, which left him numb and cold inside.

It was a few moments until; he finally threw the photograph into the fire with a loud bang of the metal frame.

It was by no means angry at the Star Fox Armada or at their leader Fox Mcloud; in fact he nothing but respect and admiration for the most powerful mercenaries Lylat and ever witnessed.

"_It's my own fault", _the General said as tears ran down his check ; no one had ever seen the famous and powerful General Pepper cry, even when all seemed lost in the years of the Great War with Venom he had never lost hope.

This time it was over and the General knew that as the red emergency lights of the bunker started to dim and flicker around his office.

The hound dog jumped as he heard the explosions resonating around the complex.

He didn't have to look at the security feed from the TV screen in the office to know they had finally breached the bunker.

He heard the lasers and bullets firing as the futile efforts of the doomed defenders made their last stand.

_He calmly opened the cabinet blow his desk…._

Screams filled the bunker has he heard more explosions and more ammunition discharges filling the bunker.

His hand reached for his Corneria H-12 automatic pistol that rested at the bottom of the cabinet.

_Then silence…_

He knew he didn't have much time left as he took the pistol and aimed towards the door.

"Only one shot in the chamber", the hound dog said to himself as he steadied the barrel ready to fire.

The pistol was meant for himself as the "_way of the solider_"; a finally last ditch effort at not being captured and interrogated.

He knew that they never took prisoners and he wanted to go out on his feet.

Sweat poured from his face as the door began to open

"_It is almost over…."_

Prologue Ashes, Author's Notes: Hello! This is the prologue to the Star Fox Fan Fiction story of,__Ashes. This is my second attempt to make a Star Fox story here at Fan Fiction and I'm excited at working on this project. Expect updates every other week if you are interested in reading the rest of the story. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy reading the rest of the story, as well as any feedback you can give me.


	2. The Inferno of which you created……

Ashes Chapter 1: _The Inferno of which you created…_

5 Years Before

Sauria

"INCOMING"!

The fox had only a second to thrust the stick down as the yellow lasers just flew over the canopy. The arwing lurched down as the fox instinctively pulled the trigger letting a volley of blue lasers on the enemy mech. Fox yanked the stick forward as the arwing ,just barley having the time to cover from the dive, jerked upward over the jungle canopy.

Fox could've sworn he heard the words, "SHOW OFF!", even with all of the battle chatter going around in his headset.

"Vector Squadron Status!"

"10 minutes until emergency evacuation protocol!"

"Need Reinforcements, Dog Company is…!"

"Where is Baker Company?"

"Bull Dog 9 is down, I didn't see him eject Sir!"

"Col. Drake is down, LZ Echo is being overrun!"

"Lieutenant Crain, get your unit at LZ Echo, NOW OR YOU"LL BE LEFT BEHIND!"

"THEY"RE EATING US ALIVE DOWN HERE!"

"5 Venomese Mechs heading towards LZ Alpha!"

Fox didn't even see the rocket as it went over the cockpit window.

"BREAK OFF!"

As the voice filled his headset; Fox's arwing barreled to the left and pitched upward in the air, as he saw the flash of blue lasers behind him.

"Were still not even Falco!", Fox yelled into the headset.

"Alright, next time I'll let them put a hole into your arwing, and then crazies can turn you into Voodoo….."

Fox, Captain Boric is requesting close air support at LZ Charlie", came an old and exhausted voice over the communication channel.

"We're on it Old Timer, where is Katt's ….."

Before Falco could say another word, the Old Hare's voice sent a chill down his spine as the words almost came out in a panic.

"Fox…, the temple is being overrun…; I can't get a hold of Krystal or the marines!"

Fox didn't even blink as he pulled the stick hard to the right and jetted towards the tallest structure in the distance as he leveled off and pulled the acceleration lever to after burn.

"Falco, cover the evacuation, I'm getting her out of here!"

"Got it!",Falco responded as his arwing made a hard right and boosted in the opposite direction.

Fox could see nothing but flames leaping up all across the jungle's floor. The planet that was once regarded a paradise was now a hell as the jungle became consumed into an ever growing inferno. He could see the sporadic fighting between the Lylat Collation Forces, LCF and what many in Lylat called "Andross's Will". Since that was the phrase constantly being used by the outcasts who had survived the war and never surrendered to the Lylat Collation.

Fox had witnessed the insane military discipline of which Venomese soldiers carried out their orders even in the last futile days of the war, but these were not the same soldiers who had invaded Lylat years before…..

Fox didn't understand how the Lylat Expeditionary Force sent to liberate this planet from the broken remnants of Andross's, once dominate military, had cornered and crushed the most advance fighting force in Lylat. Even with the growing "isolation" movement on Corneria the Lylat Collation encompassed almost all of the planets in Lylat, even if 90% of the forces were Cornerian.

Fox could just see the outline of the "Ethereal Temple", as the natives called it, the biggest structure on Sauria and had been one of the most beautiful.

"Fox, the fleet can't hold on for much longer, General Pepper is going to activate hyper drive in 5 minutes and the Great Fox can't hold off the whole Venomese Armada by herself!"

"I can't get there in 5 minutes, is Katt anywhere near there?"

"Right here sugar, I'm almost at the Temple and will get your lovebird out of there," Katt Monroe responded over the communication channel.

"Peppy, try and reach the marines and see what….", Fox was cut off by the sound of static as it filled his ears.

"Fox!"

Fox could hear Krystal's shaken voice as his arwing moved closer to the Temple.

"Krystal where are you?"

"I'm at the Temple courtyard, the marines are dead, I'm trapped!"

"Hold on honey, I'll be there in 30 seconds, this bird can only hold two so you can't bring any of your dino buddies !"

"Fox we can't leave them here, they will kill everyone on this planet!"

"Look blue brains, they will kill us too unless we get the heck out of here!", came Flaco's voice.

"Falco, what is the status on the evacuation?"

"It is a bloody mess down here Fox, we have lost 20 transports and the marines are scattered all over the place; we are going to leave hundreds to die down here….."

"BOOM",

Fox could hear the explosions from the headset.

"Flaco!", shouted Fox.

"Shit!", little bastards got the thruster…I'm not going to be able to keep her in the air much longer….."

Fox could hear Falco's voice straining to keep under control as he knew his comrade was fighting to keep the arwing stable.

"I'm going down, lost hydraulics, controls not responding, THIS IS IT….!"

"Flaco!", Katt screamed as the static filled Fox's ears….

"Where did he go down, Peppy?",

"Fox, he went down over LZ Echo, the transports have already lifted off and Pepper is activating hyper drive in 2 minutes!"

"Fox, I can't let theses devils get to him…."

"What?", Fox screamed as he knew what she was going to say…

"Fox,… I'm…..sorry",

"Katt, where are you going?",

"Katt, save her"!

"Katt, come back!"

"Hold on I'm coming Krystal!", Fox yelled as the arwing speed over jungle's surface towards the temple.

"Fox, they are all around me…", Krystal's voice had become a whisper.

"Just keep hidden, I'm almost there!"

"Fox….",

Fox could hear the fear in her voice as his body began to shake. Even in the war he had never felt so helpless or useless as he could do nothing to help the vulpine whom he cared so much for…

"SAVE ME FOX,!"

"Krystal!"

"NO, don't touch me….FOX!"

"KRYSTAL!"

There was no reply as Fox just stared at the temple

"Krystal!", "Krystal!", "KRYSTAL!"

5 Years Later

Commander's Quarters of the SFA, Clandestine

The Fox woke up screaming her name as he lurched forward in his bed…..

" _I left her there….", _

Fox gazed out in the darkness of the small room that had one small desk with a screen connecting to the wall and one small shelf filled with military strategies and leadership guides that Fox never read or could understand anyone reading….

Fox's body was covered in sweat, like it had been for the past week, as he looked on the screen the numbers 03:56 am glowed in blue drenching the room in a light shade of blue.

He put his hands over his eyes as he began to relive the nightmare of that day so many years ago…

He had made it to the temple, even after all of the remaining Lylat Collation ships had retreated from Sauria; Peppy had even risked the Great Fox by staying above orbit for 10 minutes before activating the hyper drive and leaving Fox behind. Fox had even given the order for Peppy to leave with the Fleet, but the stubborn hare waited till the very last second.

He remembered landing in the temple courtyard, but he only saw corpses of dead marines and the natives. He had yelled her name and searched the area for hours.

He didn't know how much time pasted until he left the planet and faced the armada of Venomese

battleships and fighters above orbit. None of which could match the speed or agility of the arwing.

After he had escaped from the fleet he had drifted for days consuming all of the emergency rations on the tiny fighter and could think of only her as he drifted in silence of space.

Fox guessed that he had been lucky that a passing Cornerian destroyer had picked up his emergency transponder while returning to Corneria.

Fox didn't believe the crewmen when they told him that Corneria's senate had cut all political and military ties to the Lylat Collation, of which virtually all of the military forces in the Collation were Cornerian. The planets of Katina, Macbeth, Fortuna and Zones were left on their own as the senate favored more "peaceful" diplomatic terms with Venom. The same senate that had issued a "call to arms" after the invasion of sauria by Venom ; had caved into pressure from people whom were sick of war…..regardless of the cost to anyone else in Lylat.

The Siege of Macbeth started just weeks after Sauria's jungles were burned transforming it into a twisted from of Venom, desolate, dead and barren of the once lush life of the jungle. The population fared little better as they were forced into slavery and become ruthless tools for the zealots of Andross.

"Fox?", Came a distinctly small and feminine voice as one of the doors of the bedroom opened ,reveling the silhouette of beautiful red vulpine about the same age as Fox.

Her head peered in the blue darkness of the room as her green eyes spotted the yellow Fox with his hands still clutching his sleep deprived eyes.

"GET THE HELL OUT!" ,Fox screamed as he grabbed a paper weight from his desk and chucked it at the unsuspecting vulpine.

She let out a yelp, as she just barley had the time to slam the door, as the paper weight hit the door with a loud thump and clattered to the floor.

His eyes still lingered at the spot where she had entered the room and he could still see the surprise in her eyes as he had chucked paper weight right at her.

"Idiot …" ,he said in the vacant room as he kept his eyes on the door.

He turned his head around and looked out the only window in the room gazing at deep space; he could see stars all around his ship, as two Victor Class Arwings, the newest design to be implement by the SFMF, Star Fox Mercenary Fleet, passed by the window.

He turned his head back to his desk and looked at the tiny picture fame of a blue female fox in a blue dress wearing a bright blue crystal necklace, of which Fox had saved up so many credits for, shining brightly in the photograph.

His eyes just stared at the picture…..

Author's Notes: Well I hope you enjoyed it! Again, I'm fairly new to writing projects and was wondering if any of you out there would like to help me out by becoming beta testers! Anyway, chapter 2 should be done here pretty soon as we get a chance to see Star Wolf's perspective.


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